The System Generator high-level modeling system (HLMS) from XILINX, Inc., provides a suite of tools for creating and simulating an electronic circuit design. The System Generator HLMS provides a graphical user interface (GUI) through which a designer assembles a design from a library of functional blocks. The functional blocks are represented to the designer as graphical objects having various shapes and attributes. A design is assembled by dragging and dropping the blocks into a design area and making the required connections.
Each of the functional blocks specifies a particular function on a set of inputs, and specifies the production of one or more output signals from the application of that function. The library may have different versions of a particular functional block for achieving the same function, but emphasizing different design objectives. For example, there may be different versions of a functional block, all performing the same function, but each placing different levels of emphasis on one or more design objectives such as area, power, or timing.
In some situations, a designer may create multiple versions of the same design. As with individual functional blocks having different versions, each version of the design may be tailored for certain design objectives. The different versions may be a result of each of the design versions having different versions of one or more functional blocks.
Preparing or maintaining multiple versions of a design may be problematic. In order to prepare a different version of the design, the different versions of selected functional blocks must be manually deleted from and inserted in each version of the design. Also, changes made to one version of a functional block in one of the versions of the design may need to be reflected in all instances of the functional block across all versions of the design. The manual updating of different versions of a design may increase the likelihood of introducing an error in the design.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.